Cambridge South station is set to open in June as a new £250 million rail hub for the city, with direct services to London, Birmingham, Brighton and Stansted Airport. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Cambridge South station gets June 28 opening date
Photo: Network Rail. Cambridge South station gets June 28 opening date

Cambridge South station opening and services

Plans for the station go back several years. A rail hub on the southern side of the university city was first proposed in 2017. Full funding followed in 2022. The station had originally been expected to open in December 2025. Still, that timetable was delayed because of city-wide signalling upgrades. The revised schedule now gives the station a June 28 opening date, according to the Department for Transport.

Once in service, Cambridge South will become the city’s third station, after Cambridge North and the main central station. It is expected to handle 1.8 million passengers a year. Greater Anglia will operate the station, with nine trains an hour to Cambridge. At the same time, it will have 20 services per hour overall at peak times. The site is on both the Cambridge Line and the West Anglia Main Line. The Cambridge Line runs between Cambridge and Hitchin in Hertfordshire. The West Anglia Main Line links London and Cambridge.

£250 million funding and local access

Government funding for the project totals £250 million. The money has supported construction of a four-platform station with waiting areas, retail space, lifts and accessible toilets. Also, the design reflects Cambridge’s strong cycling culture, with 1,000 bicycle parking spaces.

The station is intended mainly for commuters and local passengers. It will serve Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the suburb of Trumpington. In addition, it will serve research sites connected with organisations including the NHS, GSK, Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca. Passengers will also have direct trains to London, Brighton, Birmingham and Stansted Airport.

For visitors, the immediate area around Cambridge South does not have many major tourist attractions. Still, the station will be a short taxi ride from places south of Cambridge. These include IWM Duxford, Wandlebury Country Park and the Wimpole Estate.

GBR branding and East West Rail

Cambridge South will also mark a branding milestone for Great British Railways, the government’s newly launched state-owned railway company. When it opens on that date, it will become the first new GBR branded station.

More services could be added in the future. The East West Rail project, now under construction and planned to connect Oxford and Cambridge, is set to include Cambridge South as a stop.

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